Ozymandias
Different motives always lead authors in their writing works, and Percy Shelley was not an exemption. The writing of Ozymandias has been interpreted differently by readers, but Shelley appeared to have a hidden purpose behind writing the poem. Shelley’s work came at a time when the British people had an extreme interest in learning about the history of Egypt. Ozymandias happened to be one of the greatest pharaohs and had built a statue in his owner with the belief that the statue would help in keeping his legacy forever. Most people have associated Shelley’s work with the desire to win a contest that had been organized at the time. Shelley was, however, led by his political radicalization to write about a subject that would help in reminding the monarchs that their rule was only seasonal and that their legacy would end after their death.
The setting of the writing contest was coincidental to Shelley’s political radicalization, and he decided to use the opportunity to pass his ideas. Generally, an author has more than one audience, and this was not different for Shelley. When a sonnet-writing contest was held, Shelley and his friend Horace Smith decided to participate in the contest. Both authors were successful, and their sonnets were published in the newspapers. The authors had chosen Egypt as their subject of interest in a bid to draw the attention of the Britons who had developed an interest in matters concerning Egypt. Besides, Egypt had grown to become one of the main sources of artifacts found in British museums. [unique_solution]Therefore, the choice of Egypt as a subject of interest was strategic in ensuring victory in the contest. However, Shelley’s choice of Ozymandias brought out a different purpose for his work as he drew attention from another audience, the monarchs.
Shelley was born in an establishment that did not go down well with his political affiliation. The monarchical setting was not one that Shelley grew to like, and he had remained an opponent of their way of ruling. According to Shelley, monarchs believed that monarchs were obsessed with power and failed to understand that their power was not infinite. The fact that the monarchical power was believed to be God-given had made several monarchs slaves of pride and did everything in their power to remain relevant for the longest possible time. Therefore, Shelley grew to disrespect kings and embraced the republican ideologies based on his native British background. Shelley likened most kings to Ozymandias in Egypt and chose to write a sonnet on the ancient pharaoh. Therefore, the choice of Ozymandias was strategic in a bid to pass a message to the monarchs.
Ozymandias was one of the great pharaohs to have existed in the history of Egypt. However, Ozymandias was proud and allowed his power to blind him from seeing life as it should be (Shelley, 167). The pharaoh had great earthly achievements on top of his great name. Ozymandias would go ahead and build a statue for himself so that his name and achievements could remain indefinitely. However, Ozymandias failed to recognize that he was mortal, and when his time came, he passed away like any other person. The statue left behind, however, had a great message in the way it wore out over time. The statue continues to lie in the desert sand portraying the wearing out the legacy of Ozymandias. Ozymandias’ case presents a real presentation of the kings in Shelley’s time, and the sonnet went on to remind them of the vanity of earthly power.
Shelley was disappointed in the way kings and queens believed that their power was God-given and that their names would remain relevant indefinitely. The sonnet, however, reminds the monarchs that death was certain and that earthily possessions did not guarantee anyone eternity of glory. Also, Shelley believed that the heart and the soul were essential in determining the length of time within which someone’s legacy would last (Rashid, Hussain, and Zia, 83). Therefore, the idea behind the writing about Ozymandias was more political than a mere desire to win a contest. Shelley took the contest as an opportunity to develop writing that would earn publication in the newspapers so that the message could reach the intended audience.
In sum, Shelley was led by his political radicalization to write about a subject that would help in reminding the monarchs that their rule was only seasonal and that their legacy would end after their death. Shelley’s choice of Ozymandias brought out Shelley’s original purpose for his work as he drew attention from another audience, the monarchs. The fact that the monarchical power was believed to be God-given had made several monarchs slaves of pride and did everything in their power to remain relevant for the longest possible time. Shelley took the sonnet-writing contest as an opportunity to develop writing that would earn publication in the newspapers so that the message could reach the intended audience.